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Posts tagged ‘Libya Crisis’

Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have recaptured the important coastal towns and Zawiyah Misrata from insurgents, according to state television in the country.

Government forces have said the messages also recaptured the oil city of Ras Lanuf, and was in the morning on the way to the country’s second largest city, Benghazi. The messages are not confirmed from other sources.

Benghazi has been the center of the insurgency against Muammar Gaddafi’s 41 year old regime in the past two weeks. Eyewitnesses reported the heavy shooting in the city of Tripoli on Sunday morning, but it was unclear who was behind the shooting. At the same time drove Gaddafi supporters around honking cars in the Libyan capital.

“I can assure you that there is no ongoing fighting in Tripoli,” said a spokesman for Gaddafi’s regime.

Gaddafi himself asks in an interview the UN or the African Union investigate the riots in the country. “I want a commission of inquiry from the UN or the African Union come to Libya. They should be allowed to work freely without our intervention,” the Libyan leader said, in an interview with French magazine Le Journal du Dimanche.

Gaddafi, who has ruled the country since 1969, can not understand why the outside world not watching the events in Libya with the same eyes that he himself, and he calls for Western support instead of condemnation. “I am surprised that no one understands that this is a fight against terrorism,” he said in the interview.

“Security Services our work. We have helped you a lot in recent years. So why do we get no help back, now when we fight terrorism in Libya,” he said.

British soldiers

London newspaper The Sunday Times writes that the rebels in Libya has taken a group of British commandos captured.

The eight soldiers belonging to the British SAS and special forces escorting a British diplomat when they were captured. The Diplomat was sent to eastern Libya to meet the rebels, but something went wrong. Libyan sources said told the newspaper that the eight soldiers were taken to the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi for questioning.

The British soldiers’ presence must have upset leading Libyan dissidents, who ordered them locked up in a military camp. The rebels fear that Libya’s longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi will use the soldiers’ presence as evidence of a Western intervention in the country and use this to gather support among the people.

The soldiers escorted the British diplomat, should have been sent to the area to facilitate a more high-level visits as part of Britain’s plan to give the rebels diplomatic recognition.

Sunday

In Tripoli, residents woke up to the deafening gunshots Sunday morning. The authorities denied that there was fighting in the city, however, was shot volleys meant as celebration. Gaddafi’s forces had retaken several towns rebellion, was notification.

“I assure you, I assure you. There is no fighting in Tripoli. Everything is safe. Tripoli is 100% under control. What you hear is fireworks. People dancing in the streets, dancing in the square,” said government spokesman Ibrahim Mussa told Reuters.

At the same time says a rebel leader told Reuters that more rebels are on the way to Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, about 500 kilometers from Tripoli. He said fighter jets have launched attacks on rebels.

The major fighting took place Saturday in Zawiyah, where it is reported that at least 30 people were killed. Fighting in the city was intense, “says a contact in the British newspaper the Observer.

“You must tell the world what is happening. Sniper shoots at anything that moves, “a doctor said to Washington Post calling the attack a massacre. “They shoot civilians. They attack us from all sides,” he said.

Washington (CNN) — Anti-Gadhafi fighters appear to have the resources to carry on the fight against the Libyan government for some time, according to a U.S. official. “This could be a sustained conflict,” said the official, but acknowledged this was a fluid situation. When asked if the conflict in Libya was now becoming a civil war, the official,…

BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) – Premier Wen Jiabao delivers China’s version of a “State of Union” address on Saturday. In a prepared text of his speech to the annual parliament session, Wen said that fighting inflation was the government’s top priority and warned about the impact of loose monetary policies in wealthy economies. (For a full story,…

By M Ilyas Khan BBC News, Khushpur The atmosphere at the funeral of Shahbaz Bhatti, in his predominantly Christian home village, was one of anger and pain Continue reading the main story Related Stories Motives behind Bhatti’s murder Q&A: Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws Blasphemy reformer death threats Shahbaz Bhatti’s funeral was not the…

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TRIPOLI – Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi widened attacks on rebel-held areas in an escalation of Libya’s crisis on Friday and unrest spread to the capital when gunmen opened fire to break up dissident protests. Eastern-based rebels pressed home their push to the west with an attack on the oil town of Ras Lanuf, claiming to have taken its airport….

North Yemen Shi’ite rebels claim military forces fired rockets at their anti-government protest killing two people and wounding seven. A rebel at the scene is reported to have said: “A military site bombed a number of protesters and struck dozens”. More to follow… Political unrest continues across the Middle East with demonstrations expected in…

The Obama administration has spoken with two voices on Libya. On the one hand Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has repeatedly said that “nothing is off the table so long as the Libyan Government continues to threaten and kill Libyans.” That talk has been amplified by calls from the Senate Foreign Relations chairman John Kerry and Senators Joe…